Speak Out 5/13/07

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Jumping on board

MY PREDICTION is that all the Republicans up for re-election will start to join the Democrats in calling for troop withdrawal. This either is in their hearts or they are trying to get re-elected. If it is their heart, they failed us. If it is to get re-elected, they failed us. To cover a president when he is wrong is against the reason they were elected. Let's see when the crawfishing starts to happen.

Run by the government

IF YOU like what you hear about our VA health-care system, you are probably going to vote for Hillary Clinton. She wants a national health-care system. We can all see the VA system's failure. It is run by our government. Does our government run anything right? Let our government officials run your health care and you will be begging for good care for the rest of your life.

Pothole alert

THERE ARE more potholes on Perryville Road going south. One is directly in front of the church before you get to the Cape Rock Drive four-way stop. Another is at the top of the hill before Cape Rock Drive.

Firefighters' good deal

REGARDING THE disgruntled firefighters: They make good money in the Cape Girardeau area doing a job that does not require a college degree. They work 10 days a month and are upset that they get only 32 hours of vacation time in that period. They get 21 days off every a month. They have a job that allows them to work an additional job to make more money. And they still complain. I have a hard time feeling sorry for them.

Military ripoff

A SERVICEMAN is sent overseas to an area where his family cannot accompany him, although not a conflict area. The military pays the family left behind a hefty allowance for housing. The wife and children move in with the man's parents so she can save that housing money, but then the military agrees to also pay several hundred dollars a month storage fees for their furniture. A small thing? Perhaps. But multiply that by all those who might be doing the same. Shame on the family for ripping off the taxpayers, and shame on the military for allowing it.

Fire-free smoking

MISSOURI IS in the minority when it comes to passing or introducing legislation requiring cigarettes to be fire free. Since we continue to smoke like collective smokestacks, this is shameful. In this instance, the Show Me State has been shown evidence from other states that demonstrates fire-free cigarettes save lives. And, what do we do? Nothing. Why not? The tobacco lobby.

Technology in schools

BEFORE TECHNOLOGY is blamed for the lack of learning in schools, a separation needs to be made. The laptop concept is failing because the Internet is assumed to be technology. It is not. Computers in schools still remains a terrific option for learning, but the Internet simply isn't necessary. Technology allows students to learn in ways we cannot even fathom and, with the proper controls, can engage creative, safe, non-hostile, dignified learning environments, something traditional methods cannot provide.

Out of control

WHEN THE government tells parents how to parent their children and outlaws spanking and brainwashes children to believe a spanking is child abuse, you get out-of-control children who grow up to be out-of-control adults. We were spanked. We deserved it. We are model citizens. The government seeks to make children equal to their parents, which is absurd.

Eroding pavement

DOES IT bother anybody else that the newly renovated William Street near Interstate 55 is already starting to wear down. Can't have a new road without having holes in it only months later?

Altering animals

THE HUMANE society does not go to someone's home and force owners to have their pets spayed and neutered. An unaltered animal from Cape Girardeau must be a repeat offender for that situation to come up. The owner is responsible for an animal's containment and safety. There are laws made by your elected city leaders that ban animals from running at large. That means an owner has to be caught breaking the law twice before an animal must be altered. Someone has to be responsible for these animals. If your objective of owning a pet is to profit from their over-breeding, either protect your investment better or live where there are no laws.

Job exports

MANY ECONOMISTS do not consider the trade deficit to be a problem for our nation. I will continue to agree with these distinguished economists until my job is exported.

Impact on students

TEACHERS NEED to remember they can make a great impact on kids' lives. They can either raise their self-esteem or keep lowering it to do some terrible damage. Please take time to think before you speak to the kids. You are their authority figure from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each school day.

Wrong precedent

THE BOLLINGER County prosecuting attorney recently agreed to lower a third DWI charge to a misdemeanor. This was the first time this prosecutor had allowed such a reduction. Why this case? This is a slap in the face to the highway patrolmen who are doing their job. The people of Bollinger County need to let the prosecutor know this is not the precedent this county wants.

Give me a break

I FIND it fascinating that Cape Girardeau firefighters are unhappy because newly hired employees won't receive the 300 percent more sick time and vacation given to firefighter hired before 2007. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, firefighting does not make the list of top 15 most dangerous jobs. Firemen work in a relatively safe environment, work out at the gym on duty, cook out and eat on duty, wash their cars on duty, watch TV on duty, sleep on duty and have their family visit while on duty. As John Stossel of ABC News says, "Give me a break."

Don't blame Hillary

IT STRETCHES credibility beyond the cosmos for columnist David Limbaugh to try convincing us that Hillary Clinton should be blamed for the Bush administration's misrepresentations, faulty intelligence and downright lies that led us into the Iraq war. She put her trust in the intelligence and, like the rest of us, didn't realize that the White House had politicized it to reach a predetermined to invade Iraq.

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

Who amongst you do not believe that this is a government run health care system we have now. It may not be the United States government running it but it is run by a board of people who determine when, where, and what kind of health care you will receive. It is not doctor run as you would like to believe. PPO, HMO, or restricted to an area are as bad as any system.

-- Posted by cannedheat on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 6:56 AM

You know what YOU give ME a break!!!! How in the world are fires safe??? How in the world did all those firefighters that helped with search and rescue in 9/11 die if it were so safe to be a firefighter???? My husband was a volunteer firefighter, my uncle is a firefighter now and everyday he is on shift he puts his life on the line in hopes of making this city a safer place. Do you realize that if you even breathe in air from a so called "safe" fire that you can incenerate your body on the inside? Please make sure you know your facts from all sources. Two sources (national geographic.com and come back alive.com) ranked being a firefighter in the top 15 (CBA.COM ranked it 14 and NG.COM ranked it in the top 8). I firmly believe that all of the city personell is grossly underpaid. I have another uncle that works in a different area for the city of Cape and I worry about his safety too and for all that they do their healthcare insurance SUCKS!!!!! Please please be more sensitive to those of us that have relatives or loved ones in the field that you are bashing before you go spouting off at the mouth. Maybe now you can use the the egg on your face to bake your mother a cake for mother's day.

-- Posted by NickeyB63780 on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 8:15 AM

Did you ever stop and think it may be safer for the Military family to live with the parents while the other is gone? And you keep talking about your taxes that the military are getting. They pay taxes also. The only time we are tax free is when we are in a war zone. You need to worry about yourself rather than worry about the military personell who is trying to just make it with a broken family because of transfer I feel they are paying enough and should recieve everything they could get to make life a little more easier in thier situation.

-- Posted by AintSkeered on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 8:19 AM

The Artful Complainer

I shoot an arrow into the air

It lands I know not where

Complain if you dare

To whose job it is to repair

Or whose job it is to care

Lest the complaint be made to thin air.

-- Posted by John Baker on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 10:31 AM

Hillary Clinton still wants national health-care. She has suggested that her first attempt, which for various reasons failed miserably, will aid her in doing it right next time. I find that highly doubtful.

Meanwhile, despite what we in America are led to believe, friends and relatives in Canada and Great Britain are happy that they have access to their national health care. Those who can afford it, can choose private care. All of them are aghast that our great country, which spends billions of dollars on foreign aid, fighting AIDS in other countries, Presidential libraries and staff, unnecessary travel expenses for politicans, war conflicts, will not take care of its own people.

-- Posted by gurusmom on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 12:51 PM

Altering animals should be applied to the human group too . . . China is finally getting a handle on their population, but we just shrug it off.

-- Posted by dbuch981 on Sun, May 13, 2007, at 2:37 PM

Listen Nickeylb,

Its not about how safe their Job is.

We all know how badly a firefighter can

be hurt fighting fires.I think everyone

respects these folks and what they do.

It is hard to except their opinion on this

benefit package.They enjoy many more benefits

then most of us 40 to 50 hour a week employees here in Cape and the entire U.S.A.

I cannot have BBQ at work and I can't leave

to go to the gym or watch tv or wash my car.

I read the paper and see how many times they are dispatched to a fire or emergency.Yes,

I think "Give me a break" describes my feelings and many others as well concerning this issue.

-- Posted by GREYWOLF on Mon, May 14, 2007, at 8:56 AM

NickeyLB right on!!!!!!!I agree!!!!

-- Posted by CARDS42 on Mon, May 14, 2007, at 11:46 AM

Ok, this is for the comment regarding spanking. As someone with a college education in child development, I can tell you that every text book and expert in the field of child care and child development will tell you that spanking is NOT appropriate punishment. It teaches that "You can't hit, but I can hit you." There's a reason why schools can no longer hit children; it is now recognized as abuse and harmful to a child's social emotional development. You don't have to agree with me, but I can tell you that I also was spanked to the point of abuse at times and I learned NOTHING from it. I can't remember what I was being spanked for (I didn't even usually really know at the time), but I can tell you that it didn't teach me a real lesson. However, I can recall what I did and then what I learned when I was spoken to with respect or given tangible consequences for my actions. Think about it, do you really think you are making your child a better person by hitting them?

-- Posted by hisgirl321 on Mon, May 14, 2007, at 2:00 PM

I don't think anyone realizes exactly what the original concerns are for the cape fire fighters. They are NOT asking more for themselves, just asking to keep what they have for the new fire fighters. Has anyone ever tried the agility testing they put you through? It's not easy, give it a try next time they hold practices for it, then come back and make your comments about how easy they have it. Ever had to get up in the middle of a cold night and run out into the freezing rain to put out a house fire because someone neglected to clean a chimmney before making a fire? What about having to skip your childs ball games or recitals because some idiot decided to drive drunk and have a wreck? Or what about scrapping your friends children off the highway from an accident? Ask your city government what happened to the taxes that were suppose to go to the fire fighters and police officers, ask them if they have handed those out in full yet or do they still owe them their raises. Better yet, ask a firefighter what he makes a year, I'll bet you wouldn't do it on that salary. They do it because they love it. I would hope to think that the citizens of Cape Girardeau would be a bit better at supporting their fire fighters and police officers than this.

-- Posted by Just concerned on Tue, May 15, 2007, at 10:53 PM

Whoever wrote the complaint about the military spouse living with her family, get a grip buddy. We don't get the best pay, we work long hours, we do a job nobody else wants. We are basically a legal version of illegal immigrants. You don't know the things we go through on a daily basis, so stick to your life, don't worry about mine.

-- Posted by chaffeemp on Thu, May 17, 2007, at 7:20 PM

Greywolf,

I can leave work and wash my car its called a lunchbreak. I can also BBQ at work with proper clearance and I'm not a firefighter.